Climate Change Conversations

The NPS has a unique opportunity to use America's special places to study climate change and educate its own staff and the public about the issues. Interpreters in the national parks are key to realizing this opportunity. They have the ability and responsibility to communicate the science of climate change and to help their colleagues and the public become more scientifically literate. This video explores the role of interpreters as envisioned by Director Jarvis and other members of the NPS leadership team, and practical ways in which interpreters can carry out those roles. It is part of a series that discusses the science of climate change in national parks.

The discussion surrounding climate change is often focused on natural resources. The National Park Service is also tasked with preserving and protecting cultural and historical resources, and they are relevant to climate change too. In this video, National Park Service staff and partnering scientists talk about climate change in the context of Jamestown Island in Virginia, the site of the first permanent English settlement. Many of the archaeological sites on the island are at risk of being lost by sea level rise and coastal erosion--a threat that extends to cultural sites both nationally and internationally.